The Ketogenic Diet for Bodybuilders

The Ketogenic Diet for Bodybuilders

The Purpose

When an individual takes out carbohydrates from their diet, the body will immediately begin to break down muscle tissue to provide energy for itself. This is due to carbohydrates being the source of fuel for the body, as sugars are broken down and released into bodily processes for energy. However, you can trick your body with a ketogenic diet by taking in an adequate amount of proteins, which lets your body use excess fat reserves to fuel bodily functions.

With this trick, the body will think it is in a low nutrition mode, thus producing ketones and entering ketosis. This state of metabolic or chemical function in the body will allow you to eat enough protein and fat to supply yourself, while also protect your muscle mass. It is the ideal diet for a bodybuilder. The liver produces special organic molecules known as ketones. It is in response when the body does not have enough carbohydrates.

Ketones easily adapt to supplement energy to most organs. Unlike the Atkins diet, another similar low carbohydrate diet, ketogenic diets take an extra step. To make sure that your body is in ketosis, it is advised to purchase ketone strips to urinate on so you can make sure your body is producing the chemical. By doing so, it also gives you a accurate and daily track record to measure if you are in this state.

The Basics and Staples

For most ketogenic diets, the staples are: meat, cheese, oils, fish, eggs, and very low carbohydrate proteins. Avoid processed foods like sugars, grains, vegetables, and fruit. If you would like to begin this eating regime, you need little to no carbohydrates in your diet. You also need to urinate on a testing strip daily, and might also develop breath odor from the ketone substances.

However, one of the advantages of this diet is you can eat anything as long as it has no carbs. It is also recommended to eat fiber rich vegetables such as broccoli or spinach. The ketogenic diet is also one of the fastest fat-loss diets. You can eat as many calories as you want the body is running more on ketones rather than carbohydrates. Many professional bodybuilders use this technique as it’s a quick and easy way to see if their diet is working.

Daily Meals

A typical day for a bodybuilding mealwould look like this: The morning will kick off with a hearty bacon and eggs. A mid-morning snack will have perhaps, some cheddar cheese and little to no carbohydrate meat. As for lunch, you can eat salmon and avocado, switching the latter out with chicken or mayonnaise if preferred. For pre and post workout meal, whey protein accompanied with dietary supplements will help.

Finally for dinner, a flank steak with spinach and olive oil will suffice. To top it all off, you can have some boiled eggs and turkey breast for your bedtime snack. One thing to note is that for a ketogenic diet, the individual will have to cut out milk due to the lactose concentration. Drinking a low carbohydrate protein shake for workouts will also help.